Fast facts: This may be a new name in San Antonio, but it's huge in Mexico with 184 cafés along with others in Madrid and Hong Kong. The Mexico City-based chain chose San Antonio to open its first U.S. franchise as a headquarters in this country and a point for future expansion. The café offers a variety of hot and cold coffee and espresso-based drinks, along with fruit smoothies, salads, sandwiches and pastries. Shelves in the café hold coffee and machines that use pre-measured pods to brew single cups. All the coffee originates in Mexico, whether from Chiapas, Veracruz or Oaxaca. The hot chocolate's from Oaxaca, too.

Impressions: Even if you didn't know this was a Mexico-based chain, the bright colors, clean lines and occasional Spanish phrases on the menu give it an international feel. The sandwiches, with sliced deli meat, are solid choices for lunch. One nice touch is folks here slice the top of a small bag of chips and rest it on top of a plate, so all a diner has to do is lift. One drink that evokes Mexico is the Chamoyada, a fruit smoothie with the chile-lime mixture, chamoy. It's not just for fruit cups.